Thursday, December 31, 2009

I packed up more of Amelia's newborn things. She can still wear some of her dresses but the pants and onesies are too small. Where did my little 5 lb baby go??? We put her on the scale with Alex and it looks like she is up to 12 lbs!! My girl is growing and smiling and making each and every day PURE JOY! I do find myself looking at pictures of her in the hospital or when we first brought her home and those days seem forever ago. I'm now understanding all of those posts of yours that I read...they all said, "can someone tell me how to turn back time!?" There is a huge part of me that wants her to still be that tiny baby and another part of me that wants to hear her talk, see her walk, etc, etc, etc. Craziness! (LOL)

We're having a low-key New Years Eve. We're going to dinner at my sister's home and spending time with family. One of my favorite things!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

We had five different Christmas celebrations with friends and family. I knew that I didn't want to do five different posts. I also knew that putting all of the pics from each one would be ONE LONG POST, so I decided to do a small collage of each one. You can click on the collage to enlarge.

We first went to my Daddy's hometown and had Christmas with my Grandma, many aunts, many uncles, many cousins, etc. I always look forward to my Aunt's creamed corn and dressing...it's AWESOME!

Then we had Christmas with the Averitt side of the family...it's always super loud and lots of fun! :)

Then we had our Christmas Eve service with our church family. Before the Christmas Eve service, we went to Mimi's and had a late lunch/early dinner. We pretty much had the restaurant all to ourselves - it was so nice. My parents came in for the Christmas Eve service, so they were able to love on their newest granddaughters. I love that the kiddos come in their pjs every year...they always look so cute!

Had to do a collage of all of the yummy food we had on Christmas Day. We do finger foods, since we have a large meal on Thanksgiving. My Mom made her homemade biscuits on which we had little ham sandwiches - YUM! There were many sweets to be had...I'm still grazing on the snowballs and candy cane cookies that Momma made! Heather, you might recognize your black bean dip there in the pic below...it has become a family favorite! :)

We had my family over to celebrate on Christmas Day. There were WAY MORE pics than this, but I had to stop somewhere. :) When I get the pics from my S-I-L, I will share the hilarious gift that she and my brother gave Alex...we laughed SO HARD!!

The day after Christmas, we went to my Uncles house to celebrate with my Mom's side of the family. We built gingerbread houses, sang Christmas carols, and ate A LOT of food once again. I've probably gained back any weight that I had lost before the holidays, but it was so worth it! ;)

Friday, December 25, 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Amelia is so excited that it's Christmas Eve!! I've just loved putting Amelia in all of her Christmas gowns and pjs. Her Aunt Joy bought her this red and white striped gown and my friend Heather gave her these precious socks! I ordered her a special gown for Christmas that she will wear tonight...it's so cute! I'm going to have to do a giveaway for one of these shirts/gowns...they are precious. You'll see pics soon. :)

Is it just me or did December fly by!?? I can't believe Christmas is tomorrow. I'm happy to say that all of my packages are wrapped and under the tree (thanks to Joy for helping me!) I'm usually up late on Christmas Eve wrapping into the wee hours of Christmas morning - which isn't a very relaxing way to start my holiday. Alex had to go to work today but was home by noon...that was a nice surprise! Amelia is snoozing at the moment. I'm about to start baking cookies for our Christmas Eve service tonight. I love our Christmas Eve service. We start at 11:30pm and end right at midnight, Christmas morning! To me, there is no better way to start Christmas day than celebrating my Lord and Savior....THE BEST GIFT EVER!

We had Christmas with Alex's parents and siblings last night. Here's our family picture. Amelia wore a very mod outfit. She wore her first turtleneck. HA! We usually host the Averitt Christmas but it was going to be a little much for me this year, so my M-I-L was sweet enough to do it. I hope to be hosting again next year. I think I will have to start decorating in October to get everything done. (LOL) Having a baby just slows things down a bit. If she needs me, I want to stop what I'm doing and give her my full attention. Nothing is more important than her. I didn't go all out in my decorating this year. I put up the tree, decorated my mantle, sat out a few little things, but NOTHING like what I usually do. And that's okay. :) Amelia did so well yesterday. I had a lot of catering orders to fill and needed to cook/bake for last night...she would eat and then go back down for a nap. Or if she didn't want to nap in her bassinet, she would sit in her bouncy seat in the kitchen and snooze while I cooked. I was so proud of her. :)

I urge you to not stress about the cooking, cleaning, gifts, etc. Enjoy the little things - like time with your family. I know that is what means the most to me this year.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

I can't believe it has been 2 months since this little girl came into our lives!

Amelia, you are the sweetest baby girl. Your Daddy and I love waking up to your sweet face every day!

Here's what you've been up to lately...

-You are now wearing size 1 diapers. Though they are a little big, you are definitely too big for the newborn size.

-You are wearing more 0-3 month clothes. It has been so much fun to dress you every day! You are too long for most of your newborn sleepers. I decided it was time to put them up when your toes started curling up in your footed pjs. (LOL) I think you're going to be a tall girl, like your Mommy!

-You've started cooing when we talk to you. The first time you did it, I burst into tears! It was such a surprise and so sweet. Your Daddy was right there when it happened - you would have thought we'd just won a million dollars, we were so excited and proud of you!!

-Doesn't take much to get a smile from you these days...we just say your name and you give us a big grin! Melts my heart every time.

- You still love having your hands in your face.

-You are now eating 6 oz at every feeding. You make the cutest sounds when you eat...like a little pig. We affectionately call you our little piglet.

-You usually go 5 hours between feedings at night, 4 hours during the day. Though I'm tired, I love getting up with you in the middle of the night. You are my little cuddle-bug. I'm sure the day will come when you will get tired of our thousands of kisses a day, but until then - those sweet cheeks are all ours! :)

-You are staying up a little more after your feedings during the day, but nap really well.

-You are incredibly patient on us to feed you. You will take your paci and sit in your bouncy seat and not make a peep.

-You don't care for baths. You don't cry, but you get so red in the face and I just know that you are going to lose it on me at any point. (LOL) Mommy is still sponge bathing you...I'm hoping that once we start putting you in your little bathtub, you will enjoy it more.

-You love the sound of running water...any noise really. I think being in the NICU helped you block out noise or find it soothing in some way. There were lots of crying babies and beeping noises around you while you were there. For example: we can vacuum right under your bassinet and you stay sound asleep or Mommy can dry her hair right beside you and you just keep on snoozing!

-You are mesmerized with the ceiling fan...it's not even on, but for some reason makes you smile so big!

-Though you are a little wobbly (we call you a little bobble head), you are holding your head up like a champ! Your neck is getting so strong.

Happy 2 months, baby girl! You've truly made this the happiest two months of our lives! We love you!!

Monday, December 21, 2009

We had our first Christmas celebration over the weekend. We drove to my Daddy's hometown and had Christmas with his side of the family. That side of my family is massive...we use a local church fellowship hall to visit and eat yummy food. Amelia got to meet her Great-Grandma Weaver for the first time.

She was about to lose it in this picture. She slept the entire way there and was STARVING by the time we arrived.

Amelia and her Uncle Cary...she was giving him lots of smiles and funny faces.

Chris and sweet Kandace

Sara holding Amelia...Me holding Millie Beth. We like to switch babies every once in a while. :)

Just the three of us. I think Amelia was spitting up in this picture! LOL

It was a busy, exhausting, fun weekend!

I can't believe Christmas will be here in 4 days! I have officially completed my Christmas shopping. Now I just have to wrap everything. I'm thinking of paying someone to do this...I hate to wrap! Are you finished with your shopping??

Saturday, December 19, 2009

I finally took pictures of our new stockings to show you! I've seen these on several of my friend's blogs (or at least different versions/colors of them) and after shopping online for over a year - I decided on these from Ballard. It was so weird to have Dad & Mom put on our stockings! I just sit on the couch and stare at them...seeing our baby girl's next to ours warms my heart. And of course, we couldn't forget our Diesel-boy. :)

Friday, December 18, 2009

I was so excited to put Amelia's tree in her room! We go in there every day to look at it and she just stares at the lights. Here are some pics of her tree. I just love it! I'm sure we will have to do something different next year, since she will be crawling around and pulling on things, but for now it's perfect!

I bought all of these chandelier ornaments last year - in hopes of having a little girl this year. God truly knew my heart. :)

This is a pic of her in little bloomers with her name on them.

I bought the pink glass ornaments this year at our local Holiday House.

I already had this silver star and thought it would be perfect for the top of her tree!

And this is her 1st Christmas ornament that I had made. I took her to a local pottery store and had her footprint put on her ornament. Look at that tiny foot! This will be something that we do every year. Of course, we won't be able to put her footprint on it every year (LOL) but it will be fun to take her every year and let her help paint it as she gets older.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Every year I have good intentions of sending goodies to Alex's work around Christmas. Something always seems to happen and I never get around to it, so yesterday while little miss Amelia was sleeping - I started on some Christmas candy! I made buckeyes. These are my favorite to make at Christmas. Even though mine aren't really buckeyes because I cover them completely in chocolate, but oh well. I found these cute boxes at Hobby Lobby, the day after Thanksgiving. They are like huge matchboxes. They would be perfect for cookies but I was making buckeyes, so they are perfect for buckeyes.

I got all fancy-pants and put each one in a liner.

Stuck a label on each box and Ta-Da!

Now I need to get on making some things for my neighbors - another thing I always plan on doing at Christmas! :)

And I can't end this post without showing you this face. We were headed out the door and I just had to snap a pic of her in her hat and sweater. Don't you think she looks a little like me in this pic? Just humor me and say yes. I'm going to post some baby pics of me and see what you all think. Either way, she's my dollbaby. I love this girl!!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Time for Faith's Christmas Card Carousel! Click on the button below to join us!

I love sending and receiving cards every year...it always makes me smile to open up the mailbox and see something other than a water bill.

Just like last year, I had printing issues. I actually had our pic taken and card designed way early this year...I was very proud of myself. But like the good ole book says...pride cometh before the fall. I even used a different printer this year, so I'm thinking God is just trying to teach me patience.

And to not sweat the small stuff.

And lots of other things...but that's an entirely different post.

I went to pick up my cards and the guy couldn't find them. I had ordered them days before, so I guess they lost my order and they were never printed. I've decided to do something that I would have NEVER DREAMED OF DOING BEFORE. I'm going to share our Christmas card BEFORE I put them in the mail. *GASP* I'm tellin' ya, having a baby just puts a lot of things in perspective...like who cares if someone sees our Christmas card online before they see it in their mailbox. I'm doing good to write this post and to get a bath - let alone get cards in the mail. So those of you on my Christmas card list...this is what you will be receiving soon.

As long as the printer decides to print them. :)

It makes my heart happy to look at this card. I think we all know why. :)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Amelia was a little fussy on Sunday. She actually exercised her lungs a little - totally not like her. We were trying anything and everything to make her happy, so I decided to pull out her sleep sheep. She received two of these - one was travel size, so I put it in the corner of her bassinet. I have found that she really likes the sound of running water. Whenever I'm making her a bottle, she gets very still as soon as I turn on the faucet. Well let me tell ya, this thing is our new best friend. It makes all different sounds, one being the sound of water. It will run for up to 45 minutes before stopping. She slept from 10pm-3am and then from 4am-9am! She would get a little restless and I would reach over and push the button again and she would go out...AMAZING!

Monday, December 14, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a living nativity at my parents church. This was Amelia's first overnight trip! It's a 3 hour drive, one way. She did very well...slept until it was time to eat and then went back to sleep. We had the best time. I was so proud of my parents and the people of their church. They have some very talented folks! It was SO COLD...they were out there for 2 hours straight, 3 nights in a row. They had close to 500 people come through and were able to share the gospel with each and every group! Here are some pics from "A Walk Through Bethlehem."

Amelia was bundled up and ready to go!

Waiting to walk through Bethlehem...

Gates to Bethlehem...

We followed Joseph and Mary through the city...

They had all of these neat, little shoppes that you could visit...

Amelia slept through the entire thing...she was nice and cozy under her blanket. :)

I love coffee with all my heart. I love to spend time with my girls in the kitchen. I love date nights with my guy. This is where I write about my faith, my wonderful family, my love for food, and all the fun that life brings our way!